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Man avoids jail for carjacking

A man has avoided going to jail over a carjacking in the mid-north of South Australia.

Last December, Michael Terry Besant, 24, of Port Augusta commandeered a car on the Augusta Highway near Crystal Brook.

He pleaded guilty to charges and a sentencing conference was held in September.

In the District Court at Port Augusta, Judge Paul Cuthbertson said Besant had been on drugs at the time of the crime.

He said the man had a supportive family and potential employment, so he suspended a four-year and seven-month jail sentence, disqualified Besant from driving for three years and ordered the man do 100 hours of community service.